Smoked Mackerel Summer Salad with Dill Soured Cream

This smoked mackerel summer salad is not only for summer, of course, and can serve as a delicious lunch option when time may perhaps be at a premium. The preparation time is short and there is no cooking involved whatsoever.



Although smoked salmon knows far greater fame, smoked mackerel is considerably less expensive and truly delicious in a very different way. Mackerel, too, is a fish type which is high in the valued Omega-3 fatty acids, so is also a very healthy option. Smoked mackerel is likely to be bought as fillets, with the skin still on. The skin can very easily be pulled off before the smoked mackerel is plated and the mackerel requires no other preparation.



The salad which will accompany the smoked mackerel in this instance is simplicity itself, though does present on a plate very well. Per person, the ingredients are as follows:

3 baby gem lettuce leaves
1 red and 1 yellow tomato
5 slices of cucumber
1 tbsp low fat soured cream
One large and one small sprigs of fresh dill
1 clove of garlic (optional)

If time does permit, the dill soured cream should be prepared a couple of hours in advance and refrigerated until required. This simply allows the flavours to better infuse. It is made by roughly chopping the large sprig of dill, grating the peeled garlic clove and mixing them in to the soured cream. Do note that the garlic is optional and will not be to everyone's taste, especially with smoked fish.



The first step to plating up this smoked mackerel salad is to take four of the cucumber slices and carefully cut out the circle of water and seeds in the centre of each. This will allow them to serve as bases for the tomato halves, which are cut by making alternate direction, forty-five degree cuts around the central circumference of each tomato and then carefully twisting the two halves apart. Note that the yellow tomatoes I have used here are homegrown and may not be readily available for purchase. Two red tomatoes per person should be used as an alternative.



The lettuce leaves should then be arranged on the plate as a bed for the skinned mackerel fillet. The dill soured cream can be spooned in to the centre as shown at the top of this post. The final slice of cucumber should be cut almost in half before being gently twisted through 180 degrees and placed on top of the soured cream, followed by the smaller sprig of dill.

Smoky Bacon and Garlic Herb Mayo Bread Roll

There are occasions where we do require only a very light lunch. These may perhaps include when we are going out to dinner that evening and require something for lunch merely to keep us going until that point. This lunch idea is perfect for such occasions, or for a more substantial lunch, simply eat two!

Ingredients

1 bread roll
2 rashers of smoked bacon
1oz cheddar cheese (grated)
3 slices of tomato
2 tsp low fat mayo
1 tsp freshly chopped parsley
1/2 garlic clove (grated or crushed)

Method

The first step is to prepare the mayo and this is ideally - but not necessarily -done several hours in advcance. This is in order to allow the garlic taste to permeate through the mayo. All one does is in this respect is mix the garlic, mayo and parsley thoroughly together, then cover and refrigerate until required.

How to cook bacon is ideally about grilling it under a hot grill for a couple of minutes each side until cooked. The bread roll should then be halved and the bacon placed on the bottom half, followed by the cheese, the tomato slices and the garlic herb mayo. The top should then be put in place and the smoky bacon and garlic herb mayo bread roll served immediately.

How simple is this?

Nutritious Lunch Box Ideas: Lunch Tip of the Day - Friday, January 29th, 2010

What goes in to your lunch box on a daily basis? Is it filled with content which is high in saturated fat or sugars? Are you aware of the requirement to make the content of your lunch box more nutritious each day but simply don't know how? Do you think that making the contents of your lunch box more nutritious would involve an unacceptable level of additional preparation time?

If you have answered yes to any of these questions, the article linked to below is very much one which you should read. It provides a wealth of information regarding nutritious lunch box ideas and could very much be just what you have been looking for to ensure that you enjoy a nutritious lunch each day, without having to go to any great deal of effort.

Nutritious Lunch Box Ideas

Bacon and Egg on French Toast

Bacon and egg is of course a dish which is most commonly enjoyed for breakfast. There is no rule to this effect, however, and bacon and egg can very successfully be prepared and enjoyed at any time of the day. This lunch recipe is for one person.

Ingredients

4 rashers of unsmoked bacon
2 eggs
1 slice of bread
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaf/cilantro
White wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Oil for frying

Method

The first step is to break one of the eggs in to a fairly wide-bottomed bowl, season it with salt and pepper and beat it well. A little oil should then be added to a non-stick frying pan and brought up to a medium heat. The bread should be carefully dipped in the egg mixture on both sides to completely coat it before being added to the pan. The bread should be gently fried for two to three minutes on each side until beautifully golden brown.

The bacon should be grilled and should be put on to cook once the bread is in the frying pan. A little white wine vinegar should then be added to a pot of boiling water and the second egg broken in to a small bowl or cup. The boiling water should be stirred to create a whirlpool before the egg is gently dropped in the centre to poach. The water should be kept to a simmer for three to four minutes for the egg to cook.

The French toast should be placed on a plate and the bacon and poached egg arranged on top as shown. The chopped coriander leaf/cilantro should then be scattered on top.

How to Be a Better Cook: Lunch Tip of the Day - Friday, January 15th, 2009

How to be a better cook? How many people ponder this conundrum, every day in life? On a world scale, probably millions!

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this question as being a better cook or becoming a better cook will be defined by everyone in a different way. Everyone who cooks will want to be able to cook something in a better way or master some cooking technique to a greater extent.

On a positive note, however, there are a great many general steps which anyone can take and pieces of advice they can follow to help them achieve their ambitions and become a more accomplished cook. It is this general advice upon which the article linked to below is focused:

How to Be a Better Cook

Saturday Brunch: A Healthier Option Fry-Up!

Good old-fashioned fry-ups are rarely the most aesthetically pleasing of concoctions, or the healthiest. In this instance, however, I have attempted to address at least the health concerns as best I can by frying with sunflower oil, as opposed to any form of saturated fat. This may not qualify this fry-up for inclusion in any good healthy eating guide but enjoying this kind of meal once every so often should cause little long term concerns.

Ingredients

2 rashers of bacon
1 Lorne sausage (or two links)
1 egg
1 slice of bread
1 tomato
Half a small onion
Sunflower oil for frying

Method

It is possible to prepare a fry-up of this nature using one frying-pan but I prefer to make things easy for myself by using two. I essentially cook the egg and bread in one pan and everything else in the second.

A little oil should be added to the first pan and the Lorne (or link) sausage added. Links will take slightly longer but the Lorne sausage should be ready to turn after three or four minutes. At this point, the onion (sliced), the bacon and the tomato (halved) should be added to the pan.

Sunflower oil should then be added to the second pan and brought up to a fairly high heat before a small hole is cut in the centre of the bread with the likes of an egg cup and the bread is added. It is essential that the oil be hot so that the bread begins to cook straight away, rather than absorbing all the oil. Cook the bread on one side for about a minute until it just begins to crisp, then add the egg, ensuring that the yolk slips in to the hole. Cook for a couple of minutes before turning and cooking for a couple of minutes more.

The healthier option fry-up can then be plated up and enjoyed - with or without a generous dollop of HP Sauce!

Lunch Tip of the Day - Saturday, January 9th, 2010: How to Fry an Egg

How to fry an egg is far from being a complicated culinary undertaking. Surprisingly, however, there are two or three factors which, if not considered, can cause the procedure to go disastrously wrong. How often, for example, have you put an egg in the pan to fry, only to find that it immediately spreads out across half the pan and more and the whole shape that was required is irretrievably lost? How often have you tried to fry an egg to find it beginning to burn around the edges while still raw in the centre?

Today's lunch recipe will incorporate an egg fried in one of the slightly different fashions I employ. Whether you are frying the egg in the manner which I will describe today or whether you are frying an egg in the hope that it will look like the one in the picture to the right (which can be enlarged and a link found to this delicious recipe by clicking on it,) the tips for frying an egg which are linked to below may very well prove invaluable the next time you come to attempt the procedure.

Tips for Frying Eggs

Lorne Sausage and Cheese Toasted Sandwich

The Lorne sausage is a type of sausage indigenous to Scotland and some parts of the North of England. It is essentially just sausage meat which is packed in to blocks and subsequently sliced, as opposed to being put in to skins. It is quite a unique eating experience but for those unfortunate enough not to have access to Lorne sausages, such as a beefburger can be employed in this recipe most effectively.

Toasted sandwich makers will come in a variety of different shapes and sizes and similarly with a variety of differnet operating instructions but the principals are more or less the same.

The first step in this recipe is to cook the Lorne sausage or beefburger by grilling it. This is absolutely imperative as the time which it will spend in the toasted sandwich maker is not nearly sufficient to achieve this effect. It is preferable also to let it cool slight so that it is both manageable to handle and that it will not continue to cook in the toasted sandwich maker and burn.

When the Lorne sausage or beefburger has been cooked, the toasted sandwich maker should be put on to pre-heat. Two slices of bread should then be buttered and around one ounce of hard cheese such as cheddar roughly grated. The Lorne sausage should be halved diagonally and positioned on the bottom half of the bread as shown. The cheese should then be divided on top of the two Lorne sausage halves and the second slice of bread placed on top before the lid is lowered on the toasted sandwich maker.

When the Lorne sausage and cheese toasted sandwich is ready, it is vital to remember that the cheese in particular will be extremely hot and that a couple of minutes should be allowed for it to cool prior attempting to eat and enjoy.

Is your Toasted Sandwich Maker up to Scratch?

It is a fact that no matter how well you prepare the ingredients for your toasted sandwich, if your toasted sandwich maker is not good enough or has seen much better days, your toasted sandwich is not going to turn out as well as it may otherwise have done. That is why you may well be interested in some of the deals currently available on Amazon in respect of toasted sandwich makers. A couple of suggestions are include below for US and UK readers, or alternatively, click on the relevant link to browse the Amazon Kitchenware department for yourself and view all current offers: Amazon.com Kitchenware Store or Amazon.co.uk Kitchenware Shop.

Lunch Tip of the Day - Friday, January 8th, 2010: Healthy Eating on a Budget

It is a sad and lamentable fact that there are a great many people in this world who consider eating in a healthier fashion to be an expensive undertaking. For some reason, they associate healthy food with more costly food and are under the impression that they can not afford to switch to healthy eating.

In a similar sense - though perhaps more understandably - there are those who believe that healthy eating means sacrificing variety and taste in one's food. Healthy eating for such people is equated with lettuce based salads and over-cooked broccoli or Brussels sprouts. They do not stop to think of how healthier eating can be as much about flavour and diversity as any form of junk food eating regime, if not in fact more so.

Healthy eating on a budget and in a varied sense is entirely possible if one simply does some research and employs a little imagination and inventiveness. The site linked to below is designed as a launch pad to help you eat in a more healthy fashion, without breaking the bank or sacrificing any of the enjoyment which you get from your food.

Healthy Eating on a Budget

King Prawn Salad in a French Toast Basket

For lunch today, I had this absolutely delicious King prawn salad in a French toast basket. The idea for same came to me only minutes before I began preparing it but the result was everything I could have hoped for and more. I very much hope that it is something which you will try out for yourself.

Ingredients

2 slices of bread
1 large egg
8 to 10 King prawns (cooked and shelled)
2 tbsp low fat mayonnaise
1 tsp freshly chopped flat leaf parsley (plus one leaf for garnish)
1 clove of garlic (optional)
2 fresh lettuce leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Put your oven on to preheat to maximum. Break the egg in to a small bowl and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Beat it until it just begins to froth. Cut the crusts off the bread and cut each slice in half.

A small oven-proof dish is required for this next stage but - unable to find one of the size I desired - I simply used the lid of a small casserole dish! The inside of the dish should be greased with butter. Each piece of bread should in turn be dipped in the egg mix and used to evenly line the inside of the dish. Any small gaps can be filled with the crusts, dipped in the remaining egg mix. The dish should then be placed in to the hot oven for twenty to twenty-five minutes until the bread is cooked and golden.

The King prawn salad is made simply by roughly chopping the prawns and mixing them carefully in to the mayonnaise, along with the chopped parsley. A clove of crushed garlic may also be added at this stage if desired. The lettuce leaves should be washed and carefully dried.

When the French toast basket is ready, it should be removed from the oven and left to cool for a few minutes. A blunt tipped knife should then be used to very gently ease the sides of the basket away from the dish and the basket hopefully tipped out on to a plate in one piece. The two lettuce leaves should be placed in the bottom of the basket. It may then be filled with the King prawn salad, garnished with the remaining parsley leaf and served.

Lunch Tip of the Day - Thursday, January 7th, 2010: Is Cooking Becoming a Lost Art?

It is but a sad reflection of my life circumstances in the second part of 2009 that I got totally out of the habit of eating lunch. As a consequence, not only did this neglected little blog suffer, so too it cannot be denied did my gastric health. Lunch is a vitally important part of anyone's day and should never be shirked or skimped upon if our health is to be given its full and due attention. How appropriate therefore that we will today ponder the question, "Is Cooking Becoming a Lost Art?" as I aim to retrieve this blog from the ashes of its abandonment and build a very useful information source for all those who ask themselves on a daily basis, "What should I have for lunch today?"

There can be little doubt that the increased pressures of day to day life in present times, combined with the advances in cooking technology, have combined to ensure that the vast majority of us cook from scratch less than either we once used to or our forebearers did. The inherent danger in this fact, however, is that there are generations of people now growing up with no knowledge of how to cook and an entire inability to do so should the need arise. Is this a desirable situation? How serious has it become? The article linked to below explores the concept in greater detail and I hope that you can relate to its content.

Cooking is Becoming a Lost Art

Are You Estranged from the Art of Cooking?

If you find that you have become a bit rusty in the kitchen, or perhaps have never bothered to learn to cook, do not despair! It is never too late to hone up your culinary skills or start developing them from scratch. Help is always at hand from a great many sources and the fantastic book featured below on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk will take you by the hand and allow you to build your culinary repertoire from the ground up. Whatever you want to learn how to cook, this book is the starting block for your voyage of discovery in to the magical, delicious and incredibly rewarding world of cooking and cuisine.

(NB If you would instead prefer to browse the extensive archives of Amazon yourself for some amazing cookbook bargains, simply click on the relevant following link: Amazon.com Bookstore or Amazon.co.uk Bookshop)